'Airplane!', 'Empire Strikes Back' To Join Library of Congress

Dec. 28, 2010 — -- It's official. When, in hundreds of years, the future of humanity scours the U.S. Library of Congress for clues as to how primitively we lived back in the early 21st century, the jive-talking granny in "Airplane!" could very well be integral to the study.

That movie, a slapstick comedy from 1980, along with 24 other films will be added to the National Film Registry this year because they have been deemed "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant," according to the National Film Registry Board.

Also among those to be immortalized on government shelves are the "Star Wars" sequel "The Empire Strikes Back," "Malcolm X," "All the President's Men" and "The Exorcist."

Surely, it must be quite an honor for film makers and actors alike. But then, as the late great "Airplane!" star Leslie Nielsen would say, "Don't call me Shirley."

CLICK HERE to learn more at the National Film Preservation Board website.

Check out the full list below:

1. AIRPLANE! (1980)
2. ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN (1976)
3. THE BARGAIN (1914)
4. CRY OF JAZZ (1959)
5. ELECTRONIC LABYRINTH: THX 1138 4EB (1967)
6. THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (1980)
7. THE EXORCIST (1973)
8. THE FRONT PAGE (1931)
9. GREY GARDENS (1976)
10. I AM JOAQUIN (1969)
11. IT'S A GIFT (1934)
12. LET THERE BE LIGHT (1946)
13. LONESOME (1928)
14. MAKE WAY FOR TOMORROW (1937)
15. MALCOLM X (1992)
16. MCCABE AND MRS. MILLER (1971)
17. NEWARK ATHLETE (1891)
18. OUR LADY OF THE SPHERE (1969)
19. THE PINK PANTHER (1964)
20. PRESERVATION OF THE SIGN LANGUAGE (1913)
21. SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER (1977)
22. STUDY OF A RIVER (1996)
23. TARANTELLA (1940)
24. A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN (1945)
25. A TRIP DOWN MARKET STREET (1906)